Love at first sight
by Andromeda of Othrys
Summary: Fawkes and Albus' friendship started a long time ago - and it had been love at first sight. For what else could make Fawkes endure his human's occasional bullshit and make Albus pull himself out of his depressive thoughts?


**This themed was written for Slytherin House, prompt being Screaming - 1,304 words**

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Albus sighed as he stared out of the window in the Headmaster's office. It was nearly midnight, but sleep was eluding him. The Wizarding World was in danger, Tom was out there preparing to go to war, Harry's connection with Tom was still open, and the Ministry was in denial, going so far as to try and kick Albus out for speaking what he believed in. Honestly, Albus couldn't believe Cornelius could be so arrogant and cowardly...

Fawkes trilled, shifting slightly on his perch.

"I'm all right, Fawkes," Albus murmured, closing his eyes. "I just can't sleep."

Another melodious note left the phoenix's throat, and Albus laughed mirthlessly.

"Yes, yes, I know, I'm a doddering old fool, but… I simply can't sleep, my dear friend. There's too much on my mind."

Fawkes cawed and flew over to his human, and Albus began to absentmindedly pat the phoenix on his shoulder, all while staring off into space.

"Do you remember how we met?"

Fawkes preened slightly, and Albus smiled at the memory. It was one of the only memories of his youth he often returned to.

 _The winter of 1899 was bitter like no other Albus had experienced before. Oh, it wasn't just the biting cold of the winds coming from Atlantic and the Channel. It was the coldness in his brother's eyes and the white marble inscribed with his sister's name that chilled Albus' heart more effectively than any wind. In spite of that, Albus found himself standing in front of his mother's and sister's grave on the night of 28th of December. The Christians dedicated the date to the 'Holy Innocents': children killed for being born around the same time as the young Jesus._

 _It would've also been Ariana's fifteen birthday._

 _Aberforth had visited to the grave before him_ — _the wreath of hydrangeas, Ariana's favorites, was the dead giveaway. There were both pink and blue hydrangeas woven into the wreath, Albus noted, his eyes watering. Love and apology. What in the Merlin's name would his younger brother have to apologise for? It had all been Albus' fault! His own infatuation, his own blindness…_

 _Albus fell to his knees and, after warding the area as to not be heard, screamed. It was not a humane scream, nor an articulate one: it sounded more like a wounded animal, coming not from the lungs, but from a broken heart. His tears fell on the hydrangeas, freezing in their fall; it looked as if someone shattered glass above the wreath._

" _Ari… Ariana," Albus sobbed out, voice breaking and rough due to the raw throat. "I'm so, so sorry… Ari…_ so sorry _... " He couldn't voice every thought he harbored, but he imagined Ariana could hear them. All of his self-flagellation, his pain, his horror at what his love for Gellert blinded him to, his regrets, his fear, that paralysing_ _ **fear**_ _that it had been him, him who'd cast that fatal spell… It served him right, to never know if he'd been the one to kill Ariana. It had taught him to never dismiss anyone's life, for life was a fleeting thing and_ _always_ _important . He lived in constant guilt, but Albus knew he deserved nothing else._

 _Suddenly, a haunting melody interrupted by harsh gagging sound drew Albus' attention. Wiping the tears stuck on his face, he lifted his gaze and was confronted by a mass of gold and scarlet feathers, out of which a pair of beady black eyes stared._

 _Albus barely managed to stifle a scream. A phoenix? What was a_ _ **phoenix**_ _doing here? And the one so close to his Burning Day, Albus added mentally as he spotted patches of featherless skin._

 _The phoenix opened its beak, but instead of the beautiful melody his? hers? its? species was known for, it let out only a sickly, gagging noise. Albus couldn't help himself; remembering his promise not even a minute ago, he gingerly extended his arms._

" _Come here," Albus cajoled. "Let's get you out of this cold."_

 _The phoenix gagged again but hopped onto Albus' forearm, and Albus instantly brought him closer to his chest. Was the phoenix a message from Ariana? Logic rebelled against that line of thought, but Albus' scarred heart wanted to believe it. In any case, it was his second chance at taking care of someone, even if it was a bird who was mostly self-sufficient._

 _Carrying the phoenix to his house without being spotted by Muggles or wizards was a bit tricky, but solvable by Albus throwing a Notice-Me-Not on himself and the phoenix. Aberforth's reaction to the unexpected guest was… well, unexpected._

" _A phoenix," Aberforth deadpanned._

" _Yes," Albus confirmed. "On Ari - on the headstone." He stumbled over Ariana's name._

" _And you expect me to believe this cock-and-bull story, Albus? I'm not_ _ **Gellert**_ _."_

 _Albus winced. Aberforth's words stung, but he had every reason to disbelieve. The phoenix_ — _Fawkes, as Albus started calling him, gagged again._

" _I'm sorry, Fawkes," Albus immediately soothed. "I'll get you a perch in a moment." And he did so, conjuring the perch next to the fireplace and settling Fawkes in, all to aware of Aberforth's eyes following his every movement._

" _So concerned about a bird, Albus." Oh no. That tone. Albus could predict what Aberforth would say next, and he mentally rallied himself. "Too bad you didn't show that same concern for your sister."_

 _And it still hurt like hell._

 _Fawkes suddenly cawed and flew off his perch, pecking Aberforth none too gently on the arm before settling on Albus' shoulder._

" _Ow!" Aberforth yelped. "Control your bird, Albus!"_

" _I_ — _Fawkes isn't my pet, Aberforth!" Albus said weakly, finding it difficult to balance phoenix's weight._

 _Aberforth snorted, rubbing his arm. "No, it's just love at first sight!"_

 _The remark was supposed to be sarcastic, but Albus could not deny the truth hidden in it. He had fallen in love with Fawkes somewhere between Ariana's grave and his house, and it seemed the phoenix reciprocated. After returning Fawkes to the perch, Albus wearily walked to the door to his room, ready for another nightmare-ridden night._

" _Good night, brother."_

 _He hadn't made one step inside his room when a scream and a flash of light prompted Albus to whirl around, wand out._

" _WHAT THE?" Aberforth screamed, eyes wildly searching for something - bucket of water, Albus realized as he noticed a small heap of ash in the plate underneath Fawkes' perch._

" _Burning Day," Albus murmured in awe, flicking the wand into its holster. He immediately crossed over to the perch and started fussing around the baby Fawkes, casting warming charms around the ashes. "Shh, shh, Fawkes, don't worry, I'm here," he cooed. "Do you need water?"_

 _At some point Aberforth, sick of watching Albus mother-hen Fawkes, who was enjoying all the attention, left the room but not before leaving a plate of chicken soup with warming charm on it._

"What a night," Albus recalled with a soft smile. "You actually sped up your Burning Day on purpose, didn't you?"

Fawkes trilled, a smug undertone easily detectable.

"Attention-seeking brat," Albus chuckled and gently flicked Fawkes' tail feathers. "Don't tell anyone I said that. Severus is a rather bad influence."

Fawkes made a sound suspiciously like a snicker and flew back to his perch.

" _STAND ASIDE YOU STUPID GARGOYLE!_ "

"Oh dear," Albus winked at his feathery friend, feeling slightly vindictive. "It seems Madam Umbridge got stuck outside my office's guardian without knowing the password. Such a shame." Fawkes tittered. "Too bad she tried to toss me out of Hogwarts _before_ she learned how the protections around the Headmaster's office work."

If Fawkes had been human, Albus knew he'd been rolling around laughing. Frankly, he was tempted to do that as well. But the knowledge dear Madam Umbridge would have a sore throat come morning from all that screaming was enough. For now.


End file.
